QLFC Round 10 - A New Average
by Selfire
Summary: It was the right thing to do.


Prompts -

Camera

Fear

Luminous

Song - Percy Faith "Theme from A Summer Place"

Word Count: 1620

Honestly, Sonya was tired of the Ministry.

The kid had wanted to be an acrobat. Their chances of actually being an acrobat were slim, but Sonya wanted to be an acrobat - somewhere far, preferably, like Stanton or Dubai. Those were far, and seemed like acrobat-ish places.

Where did Sonya end up? In a small workspace in a row of newspaper clippings and printers that always seemed to run out of ink.

It wasn't that she didn't love her job, but… the kid had wanted to be an acrobat, and she ended up taking pictures with a camera that was severely out of fashion. Honestly, if not for the Aesthetic Movement of 1993, Sonya would probably be stuck in 2013 with a camera from 1803.

The Aesthetic Movement did a lot more than just improve Sonya's cameras. It changed their average daily life. Now, whenever you walked into the press department in the Ministry, you'd find a new aesthetic based on the clothing of the inhabitants and the weather outside. Sonya was proud of her coworkers.

This particular time was the Suit Revolt of 1994 - the result of the arrival of a new, Muggleborn addition to the press, Ernestina Fernsley. She had made it in because of Sonya's very earnest recommendation - after all, Ernestina _was_ her sister-in-law. Sonya had married the other Fernsley, Alexis, who worked in the International Communications office.

It was July 6th when Ernestina entered the department for the first time, wearing a darkly coloured striped suit. Surrounded by wizards in robes, she felt incredibly awkward, and stuck to Sonya the whole time. The next day, she simply came in robes.

However, the suit novelty had caught on in the hot summer, and by the 25th of August, the entire press department had replaced their heavy robes with light suits. Needless to say, Ernestina fit right in at the press department, and the "average daily life" was again changed. It wasn't easy to be bored in the press department, but Sonya (the Acrobat) succeeded somehow.

It didn't last for long.

The 25th of August, 1994, was one of the scariest days of Sonya's twenty-seven year life, ranking #2 under her first day in the press department, where the still atmosphere gave her a panic attack. When she heard that the Quidditch World Cup had been the subject of a Death Eater attack, she quite nearly had another one.

Going home to Alexis that night was a comfort and a nightmare. Their three-year-old son welcomed her at the door, swinging his arms wildly around his mom. Sonya gave him a tired smile, looking up into the worried face of her spouse.

"Appa's sad," Im Jeongguk confirmed, tugging on Sonya's suit tails. "Omma, can you help appa?"

"We made the right decision," Alexis said quietly, turning away from their coffee maker. "Adopting him was the best thing we could have done for him."

Sonya's blood ran cold. She walked over to Alexis, Im Jeongguk attached to her, and gave him a back hug. "Another letter?"

"Worse." Alexis's hands reached for the creamer. "It's worse, Sonya. Two letters, _two_ , threatening more and more attacks with each one. The rest of the French department is going insane with how to keep them safe, but honestly I'm not sure how they can. Beauxbaton's is shutting down, and most of the students are going to Hogwarts to watch the Triwizard Tournament. The others are going home, or wherever they can go. I really…" Alexis ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. "I don't know what to do, Sonya."

"You were made for politics like this, Lexi." Sonya patted his shoulders comfortingly before guiding his hands to the creamer. "It's okay if you feel frustrated, right? We did well. We protected him."

"And now it's even worse." Alexis adjusted himself to face his wife. "It's worse, because they're sending you out on that crew to the Quidditch World Cup. You'll be the one inspecting the damage right after it's been done, and who knows what's still lurking out there. Sonya, I -"

"It's okay, Alexis." Sonya bit her lip. "I'll be fine, okay? I'll come home to both you and Jeonggukkie here."

Bless Jeonggukkie, and bless what he didn't know. The boy's arms were short, but his imagination was wild, and Sonya fascinated him with tales of reindeer and dragons and swords until he slept.

The next morning, Jeongguk announced Alexis as "Coffee Omma". "Omma, there are strange people at the door. Who?"

Sonya smiled at her spouse, tired amusement dancing across her features. "Coffee Omma?"

"He calls you Paper Omma," Alexis returned, rolling lazily out of bed and stretching her arms out. "And occasionally, Somma."

"Somma." The woman in question shook her head, allowing fond laughter to escape her lips at the affectionate names of her boy. "Lexi, should you get the door?"

"It's your camera crew," Alexis reported, leaning out of the window to wave at her sister. "Ernestine, Ben, and Mark."

"We're leaving this early?" Sonya shivered, glancing out of the window herself. "The sun's barely up, itself."

"Better early than late, right?" Alexis's shoulders tensed the slightest bit. "I mean, you're going onto the remains of Death Eater stomping ground."

"I'll be fine, Lexi." Sonya reached over for her contact case. "Tell them I'll be down in a bit, will you?"

Their Portkey this time was - conveniently - Ernestina's suitcase. They grabbed onto it as it shook, spinning them into the sunlit remains of what was very obviously a Death Eater stomping ground. Nothing seemed to move. Nothing seemed to live.

Nothing, of course, except for the other installments of the Ministry scattered around the campsite. The contrast was oddly beautiful - the site of death, lit by a joyful and piercing sun. Sonya reached for her camera, clicking the shutter where it counted.

Ernestina walked up to Sonya, then, a large smile on her face. "Hey look, I found something for you to take home to Jeonggukkie!"

Sonya's interest was peaked immediately, and she followed Ernestina into the outskirts of the forest. Ernestina pointed, triumphantly, at the glistening seashell on the floor.

"Why is it here?" Sonya asked, immediately suspicious.

Ernestina shrugged. "I found it."

"Why were you in here in the first place?" Sonya crossed her arms, looking at the younger with the appearance of a scolding mother. "This isn't our territory."

Ernestina's face bubbled.

Sonya sighed, reaching down to pick up the shell, before she realised.

 _Bubbled._

 _Her face bubbled._

 _Faces shouldn't bubble._

Sonya leaned to the left, hard, as Not-Ernestina lunged at her. Sonya grabbed the shell and stumbled backwards, staring at Not-Ernestina with slight terror.

"Who are you?" Sonya demanded, glaring down at Not-Ernestina. She scrambled herself up the hill, feeling too disorganised to Apparate anywhere.

"I know where you're hiding him," Not-Ernestina growled, their face bubbling again and solidifying into a face that was certainly _not_ Ernestina's. "We'll bring him back where he belongs. You stole him!"

"We adopted him!" Sonya protested. "None of you were stable enough to handle a child, and certainly not in the way we received him."

"You Obliviated him!"

"No damage should be so much that you have to Obliviate a child!" Sonya yelled, her fists clenching around the shell. "You would've killed him!"

Not-Ernestina's face thinned into a face Sonya knew from the papers - former businessman, Choi Hoseok. His mouth was twisted into a permanent scowl, his knuckles white against his wand.

"Where's Ernestina?" Sonya demanded, grabbing her own wand. She could Apparate somewhere, now. Apparate and drag Choi Hoseok to his arrest.

But first, she had to make sure Alexis's sister was home safe.

"She was never placed on this team." Hoseok's lips parted in a well-tended smile, but Sonya knew how psychopathic he really was. "It was easy enough to slip in. Everyone loves Ernestina."

"Stupefy!"

Hoseok wasn't expecting such a quick spell, nor any one of the quick spells that Sonya threw at him before Apparating. Quick Spells were Sonya's strong point - with any other spells being her weak points - and they gave her enough time to get away.

Sonya rejoined her camera team and - with lots of hand gestures and frantic expressions - let them know what happened. They didn't know the story behind Jeonggukkie, but they knew enough that danger was imminent. They Apparated separately, making plans to return later that day.

The house was dark when Sonya returned. With a whisper and a flick of her wand, she cast _Lumos_ , another quick spell she enjoyed. Opening the front door and even going up the stairs, there was no noise. Wasn't Alexis working from the house today?

The _tap-tap_ of a computer coming from their room eased her tension, and she found Alexis and Jeonggukkie playing a game in her room. This really was Alexis - she could tell from the love-filled grin the two women shared over the brown head of their son.

"We were visited today," Alexis informed her wife. "That's why all the lights are off."

"I was visited at the site." Sonya sat next to Jeonggukkie. "Choi Hoseok."

"His brother was the one who visited us." Alexis shook her head. "Is it time to leave again, Sonya?"

"A vacation may be best. We should block this house for a little while and move to Wokingham."

"We do have a house there, don't we?" Alexis closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "Okay, Jeonggukkie, we're going on vacation!"

"Vacation!" Jeonggukkie cheered, having not previously understood their discussion. Of course this was what his ommas were discussing - vacation!

The ommas in question exchanged tired smiles, laced with exhaustion and fear. They had to protect their boy, of course, and themselves.

It was the right thing to do.


End file.
